Mexico City, Mexico — The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) reported that five sections of the Maya Train project have been approved. The sections have been given the green light after archeologists combed the areas.
The general director of the institute, Diego Prieto Hernández, said this means that after feedback from the builders, modifications to the route will no longer be requested.
Prieto Hernández commented that so far, 17,709 archaeological finds have been registered along the way, of which 15,585 were with immovable monuments such as domestic constructions to buildings with monumental architecture.
Another 1,087 finds were personal property such as vessels, grinding stones and other concentrations of materials, while 407 were referred to as “natural features associated with human activities”, mainly adaptations made to the environment for agricultural purposes.
The Federal Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, highlighted that a staff of INAH specialists and workers were part of the project including archaeologists, anthropologists, restorers, surveyors, drone pilots, geomatics specialists and architects.
“Once these salvage processes are carried out, the pieces are taken to the laboratories where they are stabilized, cleaned and restored, and there begins something that excites us a lot, which is the investigation.
“The research process carried out at INAH is what has revealed to us during all these years, that cultural richness that we have,” he commented.
Frausto Guerrero added that “there has been a lot of coordination and collaboration, not only with Fonatur, but also with the companies that are building.” There are only two sections left pending for INAH approval.
